Biggles' Revenge
Biggles' Revenge is a short story which was first published in The Modern Boy Issue 334, 30th June 1934. The story was subsequently gathered and published in 1935 in the Boys' Friend Library edition of Biggles Learns to Fly where it spanned chapters 21 and 22. The original Modern Boy short story was divided into two sections with subtitles The Yellow Hun!, and "I Got Him!" The 1935 BFL edition split the story at the beginning of the second section and used the subtitle headings as the chapter titles but without the exclamation mark for the first one. Subsequent editions such as Brockhampton, Armada and Red Fox recombined the text into a single chapter with the title The Yellow Hun. The Norman Wright edition reverted to the The Modern Boy format as a single chapter, using the original title and subtitles. Synopsis Major Mullen brings news that Biggles' friend and former gunner Mark Way and his former flight commander "Mabs" Mapleton had been shot down. Mabs had killed and Mark severely wounded by the opposing pilot in a manner which violated the accepted norms and customs of aerial warfare. The pilots of both 266 and 169 Sqn set out to hunt down the enemy flier. Soon everyone is in the air looking for a "sulfur yellow" Albatros. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) Characters *Biggles *Captain Mahoney *Mark Way *Captain Mapleton *Major Paynter *Major Mullen *Wat Tyler - his name is spelt Watt in this story *Flight Sergeant Smyth *Wilhelm Schultz *Von Kraudil Aircraft *Sopwith Camel *Bristol Fighter *Albatros Places Visited *266 Squadron, Maranique Mentioned *Amiens *Lille Editorial Changes Other Research Notes *Aerial Victories: Biggles 1 (Albatros) References to the past Incongruities Chronology (see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories) *''Biggles and the Runaway Tank'' is stated to be set in June 1917 with Biggles still a junior pilot in 266 and the squadron already equipped with Sopwith Camels. Biggles' Surprise Packet, where Biggles has just been posted to 266, and the squadron gets Camels at the end of the story is believed to be set in June 1917 or slightly before. *According to the text of the present story, 266 has been flying the Camels for about a month so the time would be slightly more than a month after Surprise Packet i.e. June or July 1917. It can be before or after Runaway tank, there is nothing to indicate one way or another. Publication History *''The Modern Boy'', Issue 333, 23rd June 1934 *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Boy's Friend Library 1935 (as Chapter 19: The Pup's First Flight, Chapter 20: Caught Napping) *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Brockhampton, 1955 *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Armada, 1963, and subsequent reprints *''Biggles of the Royal Flying Corps'', Purnell, 1978 (as Chapter 4: The Pup's First Flight, from Chapter 19 of Learns to Fly. Chapter 20 is not used.) *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Severn House, 1980 *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Knight, 1986, and subsequent reprints *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Red Fox, 1992, and subsequent reprints *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Norman Wright, 2010 References Category:Short stories Category:Biggles short stories Category:World War One era short stories